The tweet comes the day after Trump’s dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping that yielded a deal to freeze the escalation of the US-China trade war and pause the imposition of tariffs between the two countries.

The Trump administration announced a 90-day détente in the trade war to give the two countries time to negotiate a broader trade deal. This means that the US will not raise the 10% tariff rate on $US200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25% on January 1, as originally scheduled.

China also committed to buying a “very substantial amount of agricultural, energy, (and) industrial” goods from the US.

While the deal is limited in scope, it was a sign of significant progress given the fact that the two countries have barely communicated since the first round of tariffs were imposed in July. A total of $US360 billion worth of goods flowing between the two countries are subject to new tariffs imposed this year: $US250 billion worth of Chinese goods coming into the US and $US110 billion worth of US goods going to China.

The announcement that auto tariffs on US-made cars is another concrete step towards what Larry Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser, has said is the goal of no tariffs or non-tariffs barriers between the two countries.

The tariffs were also imposed to try and force China to make changes to their economic practices, specifically the theft of US intellectual property. So far, China has been unwilling to commit to long-term changes that address the Trump administration’s concerns.